Coming To America
by Kanika Meskhenet
Summary: Conan comes to America to help Tess and Jade out on a baffling case. When they need even more help they turn to Ai, who was flown down to help. But someone's out to kill Tess,Conan and Ai,will they survive or fall victem to an assassin who they know nothi
1. Default Chapter

_**Coming to America**_

_**By: Kanikameskhenet & Areiko**_

**_Disclaimer by Kanikameskhenet & Areiko: _Hello! We do not own Case Closed/ Detective Conan, however we do own Tess Moore and Jade Kasahari though so don't try to sue us! WE HAVE LAWYERS! **

Chapter 1: The Letter

Conan started to walk home from school. It wasn't long till he got home. When he got there he checked the mail box to find one envelope. He pulled it out to see it was addressed to him. He blinked a few times to see the returning address was from America.

_It's probably mom and dad asking me to come home. _Conan thought. He made his way up the stairs entering Richard's office. Richard wasn't there so Conan was lucky. But he didn't know where Rachel was so he had to be careful reading his letter.

He opened it pulling out a lined piece of paper to see it was folded three times. He opened it to see something fall onto the floor. He picked it up and looked at it to see it was a ticket to America to New York City. He looked back at the letter and started to read it.

_Jimmy,_

_Hey there Jimmy! It's me Tess. I need you here in America to help me out with some cases. I picked up that these cases are linked some how but there's too much that I don't get yet that I know you can help out in. Inside that you probably picked up from the floor now is a ticket. The ticket as you can see is that it lands in New York City in America. I'll meet you at the airport. There you'll meet my Chief and my FBI partner. And from there we will fill you in about what's going on. Hope you can find something to tell Rachel. You're smart, figure it out Jimmy. See you in America. _

_Tess_

Conan glanced at the ticket again. Tess needed help? This was a little weird. Tess would always protect him and help mostly in the cases so this was odd to go to America and help out Tess. But yet, hey, it's a free trip to America. Why not go?

"What do you got there Conan?" Conan jumped as he turned around looking to see Rachel standing there smiling at him.

"Nothing just a letter from my parents in America." Conan answered with his heart beating fast. He didn't know if Rachel was going to snatch the letter out of his hands.

"Oh, can I see?" Rachel asked.

"Um I have to go show it to Dr Agasa because my parents want me there in America, in New York City." Conan answered her. He tossed his bag onto the couch, taking the letter and ticket with him and ran outside.

Conan got to Dr Agasa's and opened the door. "Dr Agasa?" Conan called. Then there was a small explosion. Conan turned the corner to see Dr Agasa's face covered in sut as he sat in front a couple of test tubes. "Dr Agasa?" Conan called again raising an eyebrow. Dr Agasa looked over.

"Oh hello Jimmy, when did you get here?" he asked. Conan sighed.

He then told Dr Agasa about the letter. He let him read it and he looked at him.

"How long as it been since you've seen her?" Dr Agasa asked.

"About a year I think." Conan answered thinking a little.

"What did you tell Rachel?" Dr Agasa asked him as he placed the letter onto his desk along with the ticket.

"I told her that my parents wanted me in America." Conan answered. Dr Agasa turned picked up the ticket.

"Well Jimmy, you better get packing." He said.

"Why?" Conan asked.

"Because you're leaving tomorrow morning."

**In America**

A dark haired girl walked up the stairs toward her Chief's office with a man following behind her. He wore a tan trench coat with brown pants and a white t-shirt. He must've been in his 20's, he looked much to young to be older then 30 but it may be possible.

"How do you know this kid can help?" he asked. The dark haired girl glanced back at the man who was following her.

"Trust me Jake. He's really good." She said to the man who she called Jake.

"But he's only a child. Tess, how do you know that he's good?" Jake asked her. Tess stopped as she turned and looked at him.

"Because he worked along side of me and my uncle while I was in Japan." Tess answered. She turned around and continued up the stairs. Jake shook his head as he followed.

Tess and Jake came to a door. On the glass window on it written in bold black letters was: 'Chief's Office Mr. Johnson.' Tess knocked and she then opened the door.

"Chief?" Tess called as she walked in with Jake following behind her. There was a man who looked a little over weight sitting at the desk. He wore a blue suit as he had the phone that looked glue to his ear.

"Yes Sir." He said as he gestured Tess and Jake to sit down and wait till he was done. So they did so. Tess sat down leaning to the right as she crossed her left leg over her right. Jake leaned back as he folded his hands onto his stomach. "Yes. All right. Yes sir I understand I have my best agents on it." He hung up the phone. He sighed as he folded his hands onto his desk. "So Tess did you get in contact with that detective in Japan?"

Tess nodded her head, "yes I did. I sent a letter, he should get it today." She answered. Mr. Johnson nodded his head.

"Come on Chief, this detective in Tokyo is like only eight!" Jake said as he leaned forward.

"Is that true Tess?" Mr. Johnson asked. Tess nodded her head.

"Yeah it's true but he's wicked smart! He helped me solved the cases in Tokyo when my uncle was no help at all." Tess answered. Mr. Johnson leaned back.

"Why didn't you ask for your uncle to help us? These murderers are connected to the organization in Japan and he's the best there." Mr. Johnson said to Tess.

She shook her head, "No, my uncle is good but Conan's better." Tess said to her chief.

"Alright when do we pick him up?" Mr. Johnson asked.

"Tomorrow at the airport." Tess answered.

"Come on Chief! You're going to let a little child help us out?" Jake asked as he leaned forward more.

"Look Jake, you and Tess are the best ones in this department. Now everyone that Tess has got connection with is very good at what she says they do. But just in case I called out help from the FBI department in Tokyo Japan as well." Mr. Johnson said. Tess and Jake were surprised. Who did their chief get from Japan? Mr. Johnson leaned forward pressing a button on his phone. "You can send her in now." he said. Then the door in his office opened. Tess and Jake looked over to see a girl there. She had shoulder length raven black hair with red tips. Her eyes were a deep blue color. She stood there smiling.

"Hi everyone!" she said happily.

"Tess. Jake. This is Jade Kasahari and she's the best from Japan and she's come out here to help us out." Mr. Johnson said. Tess and Jake stood up smiling at Jade.

"Hi there." Jade said as she shook Jake's hand and then Tess's. "Hey, I know you you're Richard Moore's niece aren't you?"

Tess nodded her head, "yes I am." Tess answered Jade.

"It's great to be working with you. I read all about you in the newspaper." Jade said. Tess smiled a little.

"I wish I had something to say to you but I don't." Tess said to Jade. They let go of each other's hands and Jade still kept a warming smile on her face.

"Don't worry about it."Jade said, "all the things I do in Japan are top secret so no one knows I'm even around."

Mr. Johnson stood up, "Jade you will be living with Tess till this whole case is done." Tess looked at Mr. Johnson like he was crazy. She didn't know where she was going to put this girl! And she also had to find a place to put Jimmy as well.

"But sir I"

"No buts Tess." Mr. Johnson said cutting off Tess. "Now go back to work." He shooed Tess, Jade, and Jake out of his office.

Later on that night. A girl roamed the streets of New York City with a cell phone against her ear.

"Yes. I'm here. Yes, they have no idea what's going on." the girl spoke into the phone as she smirked in the dark. "I will carry out the job to eliminate her." she then hung up and pressed on down the street.

**Japan**

Conan stood in front of Rachel and Richard. He said his goodbyes and ran off to catch his plane. Richard smiled happily.

"I'm glad that punk is leaving." Richard said. Rachel elbowed her father in the side.

"Don't say that!" she said to him. Richard rubbed his side as Rachel waved goodbye to Conan. She looked out the window to see Conan getting onto his airplane. She watched as the airplane took to the air. She smiled, watching it disappear into the sky.

Conan sat on the plane pondering about why Tess would want his help. She was good at solving cases. What makes this one so different? She knew what she was doing and had the brains to work things out. But this must be a tough case for her if he had to go and help her. Conan didn't know if anyone in Tess's department knew about him and his secret. He was a little worried that if anyone knew besides her the word would get out into the public and they would want to study him. But he trusted Tess with his secret and had no worries about anyone knowing what was going on because he knew that Tess would keep everything in line when everything was settled in America.

The plane came to a landing as Conan looked out the window into the airport windows. From the plane he spotted one person that he recognized and the other three he had know clue who they were.

He got off of the plane and walked into the airport with his bag thrown over his shoulder. He looked around looking for that one person he recognized.

"Conan!" someone called. Conan looked over to see Tess running over to him. She got down and smiled at him. "Hey." She said. Conan blinked a few times. "What?" she asked.

"You called me Conan and not Jimmy." Conan said in shock. Tess smiled as she looked around.

"Do you see all these people?" Tess asked him. Conan nodded his head. "I wouldn't say anything here and because the word spreads like wild fire and plus the Chief already knows you as Conan." Tess stated to him as she stood up. She turned and got out of Conan's way so he could see Jade, Jake, and Mr. Johnson. "Conan this is Jake, Jade, and Mr. Johnson, my chief." Tess said.

"Hi there everyone." Conan said in return.

"Are you any good, kid?" Jake asked as he got onto his knees coming to his height.

"Yes, are you any good?" Conan asked rudely. Tess placed her hand onto Jake's forehead pushing him back.

"Ignore him Conan, that's my partner. This is Jade Kasahari. You might know her." Tess said as Jade came forward.

"Hi Conan." Jade said looking down at him. Conan looked up and smiled.

"Hi." Conan said.

They all walked outside. They placed Conan's bag into the trunk of a limo and then got in. Conan sat in between Jake and Tess and Mr. Johnson and Jade sat on the other side.

"Do you know our situation here?" Mr. Johnson asked. Conan shook his head.

"No. All I know is that Tess said that there's a problem with all the cases you all have been getting and she can't figure them out." Conan answered.

"Yes well there have been random acts of murders." Jake said as he looked down at Conan.

"Not random acts Jake." Tess snapped, "Conan, there has been killings of politicians in my country."

Conan looked at her, "Really?" he asked.

"Yes. And we have linked them to an organization in Tokyo, Japan." Mr. Johnson said.

"The only facts that we have are little cases of pills that they leave behind." Jake said. Conan nodded his head.

"Alright, how do you know they're from Tokyo?" Conan asked. Jade reached into a bag that sat next to her. She searched through it and picked up a clear plastic baggie and handed it Conan.

"Because they contacted me in Tokyo, Japan. We have concluded that who ever is doing these acts are surely part of an organization in Tokyo." Jade said.

"Which one?" Conan asked as he looked at the pill bottle.

"That's the problem." Tess said as she looked at him. He looked up at her. "We don't know who is doing this and why."


	2. The Call

**Disclaimer: **Refer back to Chapter 1, thankyou.

**Chapter 2: The Call**

"Ohayo gozai-mass minna-san!" Jade exclaimed happily upon entering the room where both Conan and Tess were in. They looked up from their conversation and smiled.

"Good morning, sleep well?" They both said in unison.

They had gone back to Tess' house the night before after explaining to Conan everything. So now he knew about all the murder cases and knew ever piece of information they had collected, which wasn't much to go on.

"Yeah I did, and thankyou for letting me stay with you until this case is solved, I really appraciate it." Jade said sincerely, Tess only smiled and waved it off.

"We were just talking about the clues gathered. You say they contacted you in Japan, correct?" At Conan's question Jade nodded.

"How? Did they call you? If so then you'd have their number in memory on your phone, right?"

"Well not exactly, they called me from a payphone." She shrugged, both Conan and Tess nodded in understandment.

"Hey Jade? Do you mind doing me a favor?" Tess asked, looking up at the girl with ebony and crimson hair.

"No, not at all." Was her reply.

"Can you run to the store for me and get these items on the list? I would go myself but I need to call the Chief and ask him something." Tess handed Jade the list, she looked it over and nodded.

"Okay, I should be back in about an hour." And with that, Jade departed.

"What did you need to ask your Chief?" The pint-sized detective asked curiously.

"I didn't, I just needed to talk with you privately." At that Conan cocked a brow.

"Okay then, what is it?"

"I dunno, that girl...just seems WAY too happy, it's not normal."

Conan laughed,"Is that all you wanted to say to me?"

"Well...I did want to ask you" Tess never got to finish her sentance, for her cell started to ring, interrupting her.

She grabbed her cell from the coffee table infront of them and answered. Conan sat there wondering what she had been about to say, but decided he'd ask her later.

"Hello? Oh hey Chief. What? Ok sure, but why? Was there another murder? No? Then why would we need took,ok, we'll be there."

**-In Japan-**

Ai sat in the livingroom of Dr.Agasa's house, flipping through one of her fashion magazines. Professor Agasa had gone out for the day, leaving the chemist there by herself, which she didn't mind in the least.

She was enjoying the peace and quiet of it all,that is, until the phone started ringing.

"Hakase didn't mention he was expecting a call..."

She sighed, obviously agitated, but she stood nonetheless to answer the wretched device.

"Moshi moshi, Agasa residence." She kept her facade, hoping the person on the other end would be a wrong number and stop wasting her time.

"Miyano? Is that you?" The voice on the other end laughed coldly. Ai's glacier eyes widened, she recognized the voice and she knew who the person was.

"Keina! I thought you were killed!"

At that moment she lost her cold composure. How was it even possible for someone to survive an accident so...fatal as that one had been? Surely it was impossible!

"You weren't there long enough to see that I came out in the end with only a few broken bones, but nonetheless, I was fine." Came Keina's reply. Of course when she said 'not there long enough' she was referring to her being left for dead, handcuffed to that pipe. That was when Ai tried to take her own life with APTX-4896, which backfired obviously, shrinking her.

"Why'd you call...? How'd you get this number? How'd you know what happened...?" Ai asked suspiciously of the girl.

"I called you because I need some information on that drug of yours. And you'll find out how i knew in due time. But until then, promise me one thing, Shiho. Tell no one that i've contacted you, or else my mission would be jeopardized, and I cannot afford that."

"I promise you, Keina, that no one shall find out. But from now on, call me Ai Haibara, lest the organization hears you and figures everything out. Speaking of them you're still with them, are you not?"

"They're the only _family_ I have."

_BEEP BEEP_

"I have another call coming in, I'll keep in touch with you. Goodbye Shi...Ai." And with that they both hung up.

* * *

"I'm back!" Jade entered the house, her hands full of bags, only to discover it empty. She put the bags down on the counter, noticing a note.

_Hey Jade!_

_It's me, Tess, as if you didn't already know. We'll probably be gone by the time you get this. The Chief called me and told us to come down to the Gaming Company. There hasn't been a murder or anything, he just wanted us to ask the workers some questions. He said they were highly suspicious, but I guess we'll find out, huh? I got to go, bye!_

_-Tess and Conan

* * *

_

Tess and Conan had gone down to the gaming company as had been advised of them to do. They had been there a little over an hour and so far they hadn't found anything suspicious about the workers.

"I'm beginning to think that your Chief has sent us on a wild goose chase." Conan sighed exasperated.

"He wouldn't do that, he's not the type to play jokes or anything of the sort on others." Tess answered, but she too wondered the same thing.

"Can we go now? I'm supposed to be meeting my wife and if I'm late she'll chew my head off." Asked one of the people they had been questioning. Tess glanced down at Conan, who nodded.

"Yeah, you can go. We'll keep in touch." The dark haired FBI agent said to the man.

"C'mon Jimmy, let's get back home." He nodded as they both started back for her house.

* * *

"Sorry for leaving on such short notice, hope we didn't make you wait long." Tess apologized.

"That's okay, I just got back only a few minutes ago anyway. I got everything you had on the list, and already put it away for you." Jade smiled.

"I'll be right back! I'm going to call Rachel and tell her that I arrived safely." Conan ran off towards the room designated as his bedroom while he was staying there.

* * *

"The distraction was set earlier. They were fooled by thinking it was her Chief that had called her. During the time they were gone we pulled it off, they'll never know until it's too late." A man, cloaked in shadows, spoke through his cellphone.

"That's perfect Boss, but unfortunately I have to go. I'll call you if anything comes up, goodbye Gin." The girl hung up, smirking.


	3. Case Gone Cold

**_Disclaimer: _like we said before, we Don't own Case Closed/ Detective Conan. Thanks! **

_**Chapter 3: A Case Gone Cold**_

After Conan and Tess had returned from the gaming company and told Jade that they were sorry for leaving her. Tess went straight up the stairs and into her office her parents had set up for her.

She sat herself down into her chair pulling a drawer open. She searched through the files of cold cases. She picked up the very last one. The murder of a popular politician, Jack McSail. The governor of New York. Her own governor was murdered and now everyone has to vote again.

She looked through the file looking over the clues that they found. Nothing really important besides the poison that was used to kill him. The poison was traced back to Japan. That's when they found out all of these murders had one thing in common, the killer comes from Japan. But why would a killer from Japan come to America and kill off their political leaders? Tess was surprised that they didn't go after the President but she shouldn't jinx him yet.

"Tess?" came a voice by the door. She turned in her chair and looked to see Conan standing there with his hands in his pockets.

"Hey Jimmy," Tess said as she turned back around, "did you get in touch with Rachel?" Tess asked as she took notes on the case.

Conan nodded his head, "yeah I did. She said that I should come visit you since you and I were so close when you visited." Conan answered. Tess smiled. Little did Rachel know was that Conan really was with her and not his parents.

"Well, I guess you don't want to disappoint her." Tess said as she looked back at Conan who was smiling.

"I guess not." Conan said. He walked forward a little. "What are you doing?" Conan asked. Tess glanced at him who was now standing next to her.

"Oh nothing really, going over the clues on the last case that went cold." Tess said as he voice trailed off taking down a note.

"Like all the other ones?" Conan asked as he looked down at the opened drawer. Tess nodded her head.

"Yeah. What I want to know is why this murderer would come from all the way from Japan to kill off our political leaders." Tess said as she looked down at Conan.

"You're right, it doesn't make any sense." Conan stated as he placed his hand onto his chin. The phone started to ring on Tess's desk. She leaned forward and picked it up.

"Hello? Oh hello there Jake, what do you want? What!" Tess sighed as she placed her hand onto her forehead. "Alright me, Conan, and Jade will be there soon. See ya." Tess hung up. She then leaned back into her chair sighing.

"What happened?" Conan asked.

"Another murder that's what." Tess answered as she stood up off of her chair walking to a closet in her officer room.

"Who was murdered this time?" Conan asked.

"Another political leader," Tess said softly, "her name is Julia Haggard. She was next up in line for the governor seat. Of course she would have to run against someone, but I guess that's not going to happen." Tess added as she searched through the closet.

"Tess." Conan said. Tess had grabbed onto a holster belt as she turned and looked at Conan.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"What were you going to say to me when were interrupted by that phone call?" Conan asked. Tess blinked a few times. She knew what she was going to ask him. But she didn't want to tell him right now. She was going to tell him later.

"You know Jimmy? I forgot what I was going to say." Tess answered him as she gave him a fake smile. She hoped that he didn't see through her smile like he always did.

Conan shrugged, "Alright." He said. Tess wrapped her holster around her waist and clipped the clip together. Her gun rested on her right side as she put some bullets into the pocket next to her gun. "You're using real bullets now?" Conan asked.

Tess nodded her head, "yeah, I have for a while now. I was given permission." Tess said as she opened the door. Conan walked out. Tess looked back at the file on her desk. She then left the room.

Jade was down stairs sitting on the couch when Tess and Conan came down the stairs. Jade turned around to see Tess's gun wrapped around her waist. She blinked a few times as she stood up.

"That was my Chief that called." Tess said as she picked up her leather jacket off of the coat hanger.

"Okay, what happened?" Jade asked. Tess slipped on her jacket as Conan answered.

"Another politician was murdered." Conan answered.

"Julia Haggard." Tess said. She walked into the kitchen where her mother was usually be but she wasn't.

"Your mother went out shopping." Jade said with a smile. Tess looked at Jade and shrugged her shoulders.

"Why didn't she come upstairs to tell me?" Tess asked.

"She said she didn't want to bother you from your work." Jade answered. Tess nodded her head. Her mother knew that the only time she went up stairs was to go to sleep or to work in her office and that's what she did.

"Um, alright. Come on let's go." Tess opened the door as Jade and Conan left. Tess shut the front door and locked it. She turned back around to see Jade and Conan standing on the side walk. "We're not walking there." Tess said. Jade and Conan looked at each other as they watched Tess walk around back. They followed. Their mouths dropped open as Tess walked toward a light blue convertible mustang. Tess stuck the key into the key hole and opened it. She looked at Jade and Conan. "What?"

"You're going to drive that?" Conan asked as Jade walked forward. Tess nodded her head as she got into the driver seat.

"Yeah. I have my FBI license so I'll be fine." Tess said. Conan didn't know if he should get into the car with her. It might dangerous due to the fact that it was Tess who was driving it. Tess could be a dangerous driver at times.

"This is a nice car, is it yours?" Jade asked as she got in to the seat next to Tess. Tess nodded her head, looking over at Jade.

"Yup. My parents bought it for me. Come on Conan!" Tess shouted out. Conan hesitated but he walked forward. He got into the back and quickly buckled himself into the seat. Tess looked back at him as she slightly giggled. "Still don't trust me Conan?" Conan didn't answer. Tess started up the car and took off.

"So Julia Haggard, who was she?" Jade asked as she hung her arm out the rolled down wind with the wind whipping her ebony black and crimson red hair. Tess smiled as she reached down into the seat between her and Jade lifting up a pair of sun glasses placing them onto her face.

"Julia Haggard was next to be governor. That is, if she won of course." Tess said, "she had to run against someone else." She added as she came to a stop at a red light.

"But not any more." Jade said as she looked forward watching the lines of cars pass by. Conan leaned forward placing his hands onto Tess and Jade's seats, keeping him in between them slightly.

"Who do you think killed her?" Conan asked. Tess looked back at Conan.

"Sit back and then I'll tell you." Tess said smiling. Conan huffed as he sat back. Tess looked forward. "The same person who murdered the others." Tess answered as the car took off right when the light turned green. "There's one thing that all the murders have in common." Tess said as she turned the corner.

"Which is?" Jade gestured to her to continue. Tess looked at Jade as she quickly put her eyes back onto the road. She couldn't take her eyes off due to this was New York City she was driving in.

"The murderer came from Japan. Every murder weapon that was found was traced back to Japan but the trail stopped there. That's why my Chief got a hold of you and I got a hold of Conan." Tess answered. Jade looked forward nodding her head.

"Who was Julia Haggard supposed to run up against in the governor seat?" Jade asked as Tess stopped at a gas station.

"Regular." Tess said to the man. She then looked back at him. "Full it up." She added. Tess looked at Jade. She blinked when she saw in Jade's eyes that she was waiting for something. "What?"

Conan sighed. "Jade asked who Julia Haggard was going to run against." Conan said. Tess looked back at him and then at Jade.

"Just a common man. He's extremely good at politics though. His name is Maxwell Jones the Third. He's common in New York since he was on the news a lot." Tess answered as she handed the gas man his money and got onto the road again.

"Oh." Jade said as she looked out her rolled down window. Conan looked at Jade. Tess was right. This girl did seem a little too happy.

_Tess was right, this girl does seem a little to happy. I wonder... _Conan thought to himself. Tess's cell phone started to ring and that broke all three of them out of their thinking. Tess leaned forward as she took one hand off of the wheel then stuck it into her back pocket. She pulled out a flip phone. She flipped it open with her thumb the placed it against her ear.

"Hello? Jake! Hold your horses we're coming alright! Yes the hotel she was staying at! I was getting gas for my car it was running out, alright goodbye." Tess hung up the phone then placed it in between her and Jade. "Geez, that man's got to stop." Tess said shaking her head.

"Partner issues?" Jade asked. Tess nodded her head. "Don't worry about that. My partner does the same thing."

"How old?" Tess asked as she came to another red light.

"22 I think." Jade answered.

"Really? Same age as Jake. That's kind of funny." Tess said as she glanced back at Conan to see he was in deep thought. Tess looked forward as she finally got going.

Tess pulled up by the hotel. She looked up to see it was a Court Yard Mariet Hotel. A 7 starred hotel. The best in the city. Tess got out leaving her door opened as she pulled her seat forward for Conan to get out. There was a 'do not cross' sign in front of the hotel keeping people back. Tess, Jade, and Conan pushed their way through till they go to the front line. Tess pulled out her badge from her back pocket. Then showed it to the officer. He nodded his head letting her pass. Jade then showed hers and she was able to pass. But not Conan.

"I'm sorry you cannot pass." He said. tess looked back.

"He's with me." Tess shouted back to the officer. He looked back then nodded his head letting him pass. Conan ran up to her.

"Thanks." He said. Tess smiled shaking her head.

"Don't worry about it." Tess said in return as they pressed on. Jade was waiting by the elevator. She had already pressed the button. They got in. Once Jade heard the elevator music she started to move her head from the right to left to the music. Conan and Tess stared at her funny as the elevator finally came to a stop and she danced her way out. Tess and Conan looked at each other blinking. They shrugged their shoulders then walked forward. "Alright, room 234." Tess said as she pressed on.

"222. 223. 224. 225. 226. 227. 228. 229. 230. 231. 232. 234." Jade counted. Tess opened the door to see cops taking pictures of the body of Julia Haggard. She laid on her stomach with blood dripping out of her mouth and her eyes wide open. There was a man sitting on the bed talking to Jake and Mr. Johnson. Jake finally turned to see Conan, Tess, and Jade.

"There you are!" he shouted as she stormed toward her. Tess looked at Jake. "He wouldn't say anything about this!" Jake shouted. Tess sighed.

"Because you're probably pushing him." Tess said to her loud partner. Jake looked at Tess. Tess walked past him toward the man sitting on the bed. She looked at him as she urged the other officers to back away. She got down onto her right kneeing looking at the man who seemed to be pretty out of it. "Sir?" Tess called to him. Not even his eyes flinched to look at her. "Sir, can you tell me your name?"  
"Max." the man answered softly. Tess nodded her head as she looked over at the body.

"Alright Max. Can you tell me what happened here?" Tess asked the man. Jake didn't know how she did. She could get anyone to talk to her. Was it her voice and how sweet she could be? Tess be sweet? That was a joke.

"Yes, I came into the room and I found her dead on the ground." Max answered as he looked into Tess's eyes.

"Alright, is that it?" Tess asked. the man nodded his head.

"Tess." Someone called. Tess turned to see Mr. Johnson, her Chief, standing behind her. "Is he possible suspect?" he asked. Tess shrugged her shoulders as she stood up.

"I don't think he is." Conan said with his arms crossed, walking forward. "You said that the murderer had come from Japan, correct?" Conan asked.

"Yeah, so?" Jake asked rudely.

"So! Max seems to be an American." Conan said. Mr. Johnson nodded his head as he looked back at Tess.

"Can you get his I.D?" he asked. Tess nodded her head. She looked back at Max.

"Max, can I have your ID card real quick?" Tess asked. Everyone watched closely as Max reached into his back pocket pulling out his wallet. He hesitated but handed it to her nonetheless. Tess smiled and said a quick 'thank you' as she stood upright. Mr Johnson, Jake, and Jade stood behind Tess as she opened his wallet.

"An America ID." Jade said.

"He's not the murderer." Jake said as he sighed. Conan walked over to the body of the popular Julia Haggard. She was pretty and she looked like a trust worthy woman. But the state of New York will never get the chance to figure that out.

Julia laid there on her stomach with her arms out above her head slightly curved. Her mouth also hung open. Conan looked around on the floor near the body to finally find something underneath the king sized bed in the hotel room. He blinked a few times as he got onto his hands and knees reaching underneath the bed. He pulled it out to see it was case. A plastic clear case. Conan stood up right as he remembered seeing the same case when Tess was filling him in with the information about what was going on.

"Tess." Conan said as he walked toward her. Tess looked down as he showed her the case. Tess blinked as she got down onto her knees taking the case from him.

"That's the same pill case we find at every crime scene." Jake pointed out. Tess turned looking at him.

"Thank you captain obvious." Tess said sarcastically. Tess looked at the case to see that one of the hinges were broken. How could that be? The hinges were metal. "The hinges are broken." Tess pointed out.

"Let me see." Jade said holding her hand out. Tess turned handing it to her. "Hm, you're right. She probably knew who her murderer was and"

"Put up a pretty good fight." Conan cut in. Jade nodded her head, agreeing with Conan. Tess looked back to the body as she sighed.

"Well, with that as the only lead this case goes cold."

The case did go cold. There were no other leads to help them find this Japanese murderer. What would they want with their politicians anyway? This made no sense to them. Tess drove back to her house. When they got there it was well over 10 o'clock and they were tired from a day's work. They all said goodnight and went to bed.

Later that night a girl walked into the backyard. She looked around as she noticed that the top of Tess's convertible was down. She smirked in the dark and walked over. She hopped in searching through the car when she found Tess's cell phone. Her smirk got bigger as she opened up the phone. The bright light lit up her face as she searched through the numbers on the phone she then came to a number that said: Jimmy&Rachel. Her eyes widened.

"Jimmy Kudo! Could it be him?" the girl closed the cell phone as she slipped it into her pocket while getting out of the car. She then found a way to get onto the second floor of the house. She opened the window in Tess's office. She hopped on in as she quietly looked around. She walked forward taking her seat into Tess's chair. She had noticed that Tess left a file on the desk. She smirked and decided to go through it. She looked back onto the desk as she noticed that there was a sheet of paper. "This Tess Moore is smart. Rechecking the clues to see if she missed anything. I better clean up a little better then." The girl spoke to herself as she placed the file onto the desk. She leaned back in the chair. She happened to look down to see the computer was one. She smirked again as she went through her files on the computer. She came to one listed: "Antidote."

The girl raised and eyebrow as she clicked on it. When she read the file her eyes widened. She right clicked on it as she left the screen there. She took out a mini computer that looked like a blackberry. She linked the cable from her mini computer the computer as she downloaded the file. After she was done she completely erased the file from Tess' computer. She looked back at the door to see it was wide open. Someone could walk by. She stood up and closed the door,locking it tight. She walked back to the desk. From the light the computer screen gave off the girl was able to find the phone. She pulled Tess's cell phone from her pocket as she searched through the numbers again. She then clicked on the number that said Jimmy&Rachel. She picked up the phone on the desk resting it on her shoulder as her shoulder kept it up against her ear. She dialed the number and waited for the ring. It kept on ringing and ringing till finally.

"Hello. This is Richard Moore's Office. I'm not in right now so please leave a message and a number and I'll get a good start on your case when I get in." The girls eyes widened as she slammed the phone down. She looked around as she heard someone coming. She ran to the door unlocking it and then shutting off the computer. Without the computer light there the girl couldn't see. She looked around till she finally found the closest. She opened it and closed it, hiding herself from whoever was walking by. She opened the door slightly as she saw a girl with jet black hair walk in. She was wearing shorts the hugged around her legs nicely and a random tank-top that looked blue. She knew that this was Tess.

Tess yawned as she sat herself down at her desk turning on the lap. Tess felt that the seat was warm. Someone was sitting in it. She looked around towards the closest. The girl inside the closest pulled herself back as Tess looked away. She turned on the lap on her desk and continued to work.

"It was probably my mom messing around on my computer." Tess said to herself. "I better check." Tess added as she turned on the computer screen. She looked around the screen to see everything was in order except for one thing, a file was missing. "What's this? One of my files is missing..." Tess said softly as she leaned forward searching on her computer for the missing file. Tess sighed. "She probably deleted it on accident. That's okay." She said to herself. Tess turned to the file on her desk to see it was moved. Tess felt something was wrong. That someone else other then her mother was in her office and they were messing around with her work. Tess turned around when she heard someone yawning. She turned to see Conan.

"What are you doing Tess?" Conan asked as he rubbed his eye. Tess sighed.

"I'm sorry if I woke you up." Tess said, standing up and turning off her computer screen.

"It's alright. What are you doing in here so late?" Conan asked as he stopped rubbing her eye.

"I was going to do a little work like I always do." Tess answered. Conan nodded his head as they left the room. Tess shut the door remembering when she left the house she left the door open.

_If my mom was in there she probably shut the door when she left._Tess thought. Once they were gone the girl emerged from the closest. She walked to the window and left.

"That was close, just a little too close." The girl said as she landing on the soft grass in the backyard. She pulled out Tess's cell phone and dialed a number.

"Hello, Gin? Yeah, it's me Keina. Yeah I just got out of there, I was almost caught, she had a file on the computer labeled 'Antidote.' What did I do with it? Well I downloaded it into my blackberry and then deleted it on her computer. She probably noticed. And we have to be careful when we do our murders because Tess Moore isn't as dumb as her uncle. She double checks the crime to make sure she didn't miss anything. And about her cell phone, she has a number listed 'Jimmy&Rachel' do you think it's Jimmy Kudo? Yes sir I'll get the job done."

* * *

**Fanfic Maniac: Me and Areiko are both writing this together, she watches Case Closed, I watch detective Conan and occasionally Case Closed. lol, hopefully that helped you a bit. Ai's my favorite character, besides Kaitou KID, so I just HAD to add her XP!**


	4. Assistance

**Disclaimer**: As we've said before, we don't own Detective Conan or Case Closed. If we did we'd be rich and Japanese, which sadly we are not. And also, we don't own The Ring 2...but Samara's so freakin' cool! XD! 

**Chapter 4: Assistance**

Tess knew something was missing from her desktop, but she just couldn't figure out which file had been deleted. Why her mother had to mess with her things she did not know.

"Morning Tess." Jade greeted from the couch where she was reading. Her tone wasn't as cheery as it normally was but Tess dismissed it and nodded a 'morning' to her. Conan sat at the kitchen table with a plate of toast, which he was currently munching on. Tess walked towards him, snatching a piece of his toast and taking a bite.

"Hey!" Conan pouted, causing Tess to laugh at his childish expression.

"So, what're we doing today?" She asked him and he shrugged, finishing off his toast.

"Well we have to do something! I mean, it's the weekend and we can't just let it waste away..." Tess declared, making a list of things that they could do. Conan wasn't listening, rather, he was thinking.

_I wonder what this Organization from Japan wants here in America...and why have their calling card be an empty pill case? It just doesn't make any sense...unless...hmm, I wonder. I'll call Haibara later and ask her..._ He thought, returning back to reality to see Tess staring at him intently.

"What were you thinking about?" She asked him, he didn't want to tell her yet though because he needed to talk with Ai first.

"About the question you were going to ask me the other day." She looked down a moment, unsure of whether or not she should ask him, she sighed.

"Not yet, Conan." He shrugged, hopefully she'd tell him because his curiousity was causing him to go insane!

"Hey Jade, what're you reading? You look really into it." Tess questioned, changing the subject and glancing over at the extrememly and abnormally quiet girl.

"Huh?" She looked up at seeing Tess' stare, waiting for her to answer.

"I asked you what you were reading..." Tess frowned.

"Oh! Sorry, whenever I read my brain sorta tunes everything around me out...I'm reading this book full of short stories and poems by Edgar Allan Poe." She answered with a sheepish smile.

"Edgar Allan Poe? Seems a little too dark for you, doesn't it?" Conan mused.

"No, not really...well yeah I guess. He was an awesome writer though, in my opinion, the best there ever was." She shrugged.

"Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was the best author there ever was." Conan justhad to defend the writer of the books with the greatest detective there ever was.

"I said 'In my opinion', jeez." She sighed.

"Do you guys wanna go to the movies or something?" Tess asked, both Jade and Conan exchanged glances and shrugged. Jade put down her book, marking the page she was on first, while Conan put his plate in the sink.

"Okay, what movie?" Jade asked.

"Well, the Ring Two just came out, wanna see it?" Tess answered with a question of her own.

"How will I get in? I'm too young..." Conan looked down sadly.

"Che. We're with you, they'll let you in." And so they grabbed their jackets and headed for Tess' car. Conan was still apprehensive about getting into a vehicle where Tess was behind the wheel. Tess driving, a very scary thought indeed.

When they got there they discovered that the entire theatre was practically empty, save the workers and them. Jade went to find them some seats while Conan and Tess got the popcorn and drinks.

"Do you still love her...?" Tess asked silently, not even looking down at him.

He looked up at her, who did she mean? Rachel? Of course he still loved Rachel, but he also had feelings for Tess. At the moment he was very unsure of his emotions, he was attracted to both girls but knew that he he'd have to choose between them eventually, and that'd be the hardest decision he'd ever have to make.

Tess saw his hesitation and took that as her answer, the answer that he still loved Rachel very much. She could feel her muscles begin to weak and her eyes begin to water with unshed tears, tears that she wouldn't let be revealed, ever though how much they threatened to fall.

During the movie Conan tried to sort out his emotions, while Tess on the otherhand kept silently telling herself not to cry, it wasn't worth it. Jade seemed to be the only one really paying attention to the movie, though she had to clasp her hands over her mouth to keep from laughing. The movie wasn't very funny, but for Jade it was, especially when the people died.

"That was a pretty good movie, ne?" Jade mused one the movie was over, they were now filing out of the theatre and towards the car.

"Huh? Wha? Yeah it was cool." Tess seemed way out of it, as did Conan, for he didn't even hear them.

"Guys, what is up with you? You've been acting wierd ever since we got here, you dind't even watch the movie..." The black and crimson haired girl looked at them worriedly.

"Nothing, just thinking." Tess smiled convincingly, though it was only an act.

"Yeah, same here." Added Conan as they got into the car.

"I was thinking, about the case, and I have a friend back in Japan who used to be in a...well she calls it the Syndicate. She's a chemist and worked with pills, specifically poison pills. I'm sure she could test the pill cases that were left behind, maybe it's the organization she came from..." Conan said, breaking the awkward silence that was between them. Tess looked at him from her rearview mirror, Jade bit her lip.

"Ok, give her a call when we get home, we could use all the help we can get." And those were the last words spoeken for the duration of the ride home.

When they got back they each went to do their separate things. Tess went to look over the evidence gathered, though it wasn't much. Jade went back to her reading on the couch and Conan went to call Ai, in hopes that he could convince her to help.

* * *

Ai had been watching the News due to the fact that nothing else was on. But the broadcast suddenly got interesting when they recieved word that Kaitou KID had stolen yet another priceless artifact.

Right when the News was getting mildly interesting the phone rang. It always did during times like these, and it annoyed her. The Professor wasn't there again either, he seemed to be out of the house more and more lately, mainly going to Conventions in other parts of the country. She growled, standing to go and get the phone from the other room. The caller I.D said it was from America.

"Perhaps Keina's calling again, she never did ask me what she had wanted to about the APTX-4869." Ai thought out loud.

But when she answered it she heard the familiar voice of...

"Kudo."

"Can I ask you something, Haibara?"

"You just did."

"Fine then, can I ask you multiple things?"

"Go ahead."

"Do you think you could fly down here and help us out with this case?"

"I'm not the detective here, Kudo."

"No, what I mean is, we need you to do some testing on something for us. See I suspect that this Organization that's been killing people here is somehow linked with the Syndicate. Everytime someone is murdered they leave behind an empty pill case and I wanted you to test it to see if there were any traces of Apotoxin in it." He sounded slightly desperate for her help.

"And how am I supposed to get to America? I don't have the money for a plane ticket Kudo, did you ever think of that?"

"We can pay for it, sorry to cut this call short but it's long distance and I don't want Tess' bill to be sky-high. We'll be sending the ticket out to you tomorrow, get here as soon as you can." And with that he hung up.

She sighed, going to her lab to pack some of her things, making sure not to forget anything that she may need.

* * *

The three of them waited patiently in the airport lobby, waiting for Ai's plane to touch down. It had been four days since the call Conan had made to her and she had finally recieved the ticket sent to her the night before.

Finally the plane they had been waiting for arrived and the people began to exit and come out of the terminal and into the lobby.

"Conan, what does she look like?" Asked Tess, watching Conan glance around the room, searching for the pint-sized chemist. Though he didn't answer her, for he had found Ai, standing by the terminal exit, looking for him.

"Haibara-chan!" He called out to her, both Tess and Jade snapped their heads in the direction the girl was coming from.

She was about Conan's height and was wearing one of her short-sleeved black shirts, blue pants and her blue jean jacket. Her glacier eyes were alight with amusement as she made her way towards them, her bag in hand, until she was standing a few feet away from Conan with her arms crossed.

"Ai, meet Tess and Jade, guys, this is Ai Haibara." He introduced, grinning.

Ai's eyes widened slightly when they landed on Jade, cocking her head slightly she smirked.

"It's nice to meet you Ai." Jade smiled.

"Likewise." Was her reply.

"Okay, you guys ready to get back home?" Tess was ready to get out of the crowded room, the other three nodded.

On the way back Jade and Tess sat in the front while Conan and Ai sat in the back, with him filling her in on the case and the information they had collected so far. She nodded, she knew exactly what she was going to do, granted it might take her hours, but she'd do it.

* * *

It was well past midnight and everyone had gone to bed long ago, with the exception of Ai. She wasn't tired at all, like she ever was, she was used to staying up this late, research always came before the simple pleasure, like sleep.

She was nearly completed with the testing now, in just a few moments she'd have her results which would tell her whether or not this was the Syndicate's doing. Though she was pretty suspicious that they were behind this, otherwise why would Keina have called her before from America? The fluid's in the test tubes turned a purplish color, confirming her suspicions to be correct.

"I knew it." She muttered, but soon found herself to sleepy to do anything else and fell asleep within minutes.

Ai woke up the next morning, still laying on the desk which held her chemicals atop it, and the purple colored solution. She sighed, leaving the room after getting dressed and going out into the living room where everyone was. Jade again was reading, as was Conan while Tess sat at the table writing something.

"Good morning Haibara, did you test the pill case? Does it really have anything to do with the Black Organization?" He asked, putting his book down and jumping off the couch, waiting for an answer.

"I tested it. It has nothing to do with the Apotoxin-4869, you called me out here for nothing Conan." She answered. She couldn't tell him that it did indeed have traces of the said poison, knowing he'd go after them and get himself killed. She couldn't let him do that, she had to protect him as he had promised to do for her.

"Oh. Well, consider this the vacation that you've needed to take for a long time." He smiled, though she merely rolled her eyes to what he said, deciding she'd not comment on it. And as long as the Syndicate was in America, she was going to stay and conquer her fears of them all together.


	5. A New Assignment

**_Disclaimer: _must we say it again? I think u get it by now. We don't own Case Closed/ Detective Conan. **

_**Chapter 5: A New Assignment**_

Tess stood there in the doorway of her office staring at her computer trying to figure out which file went missing. She stood there trying to think which file could've been deleted. She shrugged it off and finally went downstairs. Jade, seemed very interested in her book so Tess left her alone. Ai must've been in the lab retesting the pill cases like Tess had asked and Conan, where was he?

Tess looked around the house till she came to the kitchen. There sat Conan and her mother playing cards. She smiled as she watched the two play cards. Then the phone started to ring next to her. She looked over as her mother and Conan looked up. Tess answered it.

"Hello? Oh hi Chief, what can I do for you? Alright we'll be there soon. Yes Ai is coming as well she's now part of the team. Alright sir, see you soon." Tess hung up the phone.

"What is it?" Conan asked. Tess sighed as she walked to him.

"Chief just called with another assignment for us." Tess answered as she looked around walking towards the basement door.

"Shall I still prepare dinner for you dear?" Tess's mother asked. Tess shook her head.

"No, just order out tonight." Tess answered as she opened the door pulling something off of the hanger.

"What is that?"Conan asked. Tess turned around tossing a jacket to Conan.

"A jacket what else? It's going to be raining all day." She answered. Tess picked up another jacket a light blue wind breaker. She walked into the living room tossing it over Jade.

"Thank you." Jade said taking the jacket off of her head. She then blinked a few times looking at Tess as she made her way up the stairs. "Where are we going today?" she asked. Tess came to a halt looking at her.

"We're going to the station. Chief has another assignment for us." Tess answered. Conan walked into sight, slipping on the jacket.

"Is it related to the cases?" Conan asked. Tess looked down at him from the stair case shrugging her shoulders.

"I don't know. We'll find out when we get there." Tess turned back around when she blinked and turned back around. She looked at Conan and pointed in the direction of the kitchen. "Conan, can you get a jacket for Ai. I forgot she was here." She said. Conan nodded his head as he went to the kitchen and ended up in a conversation with Tess's mother. Jade stood up following Tess up stairs.

They entered Tess's office. Tess turned to the right towards her closest opening it. She looked around for something. She then pulled out a gun holster that wrapped around her waist. She then searched through the different jackets for her leather one, which seemed to be her favorite.

"What do you think Mr Johnson has planned for us?" Jade asked. Tess glanced at her and shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know. Knowing him, he would just tell us to find a desk, have a seat, and do paper work." Tess answered.

Jade nodded her head, "Ah"

Ai sat in her lab staring at the purple liquid. She didn't know why they were here and what they were after. She pondered about it but came up with nothing. She didn't know Tess very well but she knew Tess would stop at nothing to find these guys. She knew that just by her looks. And Jimmy would be caught in the middle of it. Something she knew that couldn't happen. She was going to keep this a secret to protect him like he promised her and vise-versa.

Someone knocked on the lab door. Ai looked over and called out: "Come in!" In entered Conan. Ai turned back to the testing tube with the purple liquid. She tried to hide it from him. Soon she found a spot.

"So did you get the results?" Conan asked as he walked towards her.

"It's the same as last time Kudo. Nothing has changed. Its not the Black Organization that is doing these murders."Ai told him.

Conan handed her the jacket, "Then who else do you think is behind this?" he asked her. Ai took the jacket and slipped it on.

"I don't know Kudo. I may be a genius, but I don't know everything." Ai answered.

"Are you guys ready?" came a voice. Conan turned and Ai looked over his shoulder to see Tess and Jade standing there. "Let's go."

They all exited the house running to the garage that held Tess's convertible. Tess opened the door, pushing it upward as everyone got into the car. Tess got into the driver seat as she put up the roof. When Conan got into the car he quickly buckled up and then advised Ai to do that same. They took off into the rain driving toward the station.

Tess reached down in between her seat and Jade's searching for her cell phone. Tess glanced down to see it wasn't there. She mouthed a swear as she looked at the street continuing forward.

"Jade can you do me a favor?" Tess asked. Jade nodded her head as she looked at her.

"Yes what is it?" Jade asked.

"Can you search for my cell phone in between our seats?" Tess asked. Jade didn't answer she just did it. She stuck her hands in between the seats searching for an oval shaped flip-phone. She found nothing but CD cases. Jade looked forward as she reached for the glove box. Tess glanced at her and spoke up.

"It wouldn't be in there." Tess quickly said as she entered the station's parking lot. Jade looked at her as she leaned back into her seat.

"Are you sure?" Jade asked. Tess nodded her head as she pulled her keys out.

"Yeah I'm sure." Tess answered as she exited the car running to the station. Jade and Ai followed but Conan hesitated. He looked at the glove box.

_What's in there that Tess doesn't want Jade to see?_ Conan asked himself. He decided not to look now but to catch up with the others.

When they entered Jake was sitting at his desk writing. His hand was tangled in his brown hair. He looked up to see them. He quickly stood up and walked to them.

"Where were you?" Jake asked Tess. Tess blinked as she walked to her desk taking everyone's jackets hanging it over her chair at her desk that was next to Jake's.

"What do you mean?" Tess asked.

"I've been trying to get a hold of you on your cell phone and who is that?" Jake asked as he looked at Ai.

"My name is Haibara but call me Ai." Ai answered his question.

"Oh so you must be new on the team. You must be the chemist." Jake said. Ai nodded her head. Jake leaned toward Tess. "Are you sure about these kids Tess?" Jake whispered. Tess rolled her eyes.

"Jake, you're just jealous because their smarter then you." Tess said to him. Jade nearly started to laugh when she heard Tess's remark. But that was soon done with when the group walked up the stairs towards Mr. Johnson's office. Tess opened the door to see he was on the phone again. Conan and Ai took seats on the two chairs. Tess, Jake, and Jade stood behind them as Mr Johnson continued to talk.

"Yes sir. My people are on their way to your house. Don't worry everything will be fine, two of them will be armed. Sir I'm telling you, you'll be protected with them don't worry. Yes sir I know, yes. Alright sir I'll send my people over there soon. Goodbye." Mr Johnson hung up the phone shaking his head. "I have an a" Mr Johnson stopped when he looked at Ai. "You must be Ai the chemist."

"Yes I am." Ai said almost rolling her eyes. Mr Johnson reached over the desk to shake her hand.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Mr Johnson, the chief around here." He said to her. Ai just crossed her arms. Mr Johnson shrugged his shoulders as he pulled his hand away. "Alright."

"What's the assignment Chief?" Tess asked. Mr Johnson nearly laughed.

"You're always in a rush Tess." He said to her.

"Can you blame me sir?" Tess asked. Mr Johnson shook his head.

"No I guess not." He answered.

"May we please know what the assignment is?" Jade asked. Mr Johnson nodded his head as he folded his hands.

"All of you are going on a new assignment." Mr Johnson said. Tess nearly snapped.

"What! What about the" Mr Johnson held up his hand stopping Tess.

"I understand about that Tess." Mr Johnson said.

"What about this assignment? What are we going to be doing?" Conan asked. Mr Johnson looked at him.

"You are going to be protecting Maxwell Jones the Third." Mr Johnson told them.

"Isn't that the guy who was supposed to go up against Julia Haggard?" Jake asked.

"Yes he was. Now, he's on a scare and he thinks he's going to be next in line with these murders. So he called us up for protection. So I decided to send you guys out there to protect him." Mr Johnson explained.

"Including me?" Ai asked. Mr Johnson nodded his head.

"Yes. We may need you out there in case you guys don't complete this assignment." Mr Johnson said to her. "Now, Mr. Jones lives in Upstate New York."

"But sir! That's more then 2 hours away from here." Jake said.

"I know that Jake." Mr Johnson said.

"Then why don't we have him come down here and stay in Tess's house?" Jake asked. Tess suddenly slapped the back of Jake's head.

"What are you crazy! My mother would flip if I took a full grown man back to my house! And plus, I don't have anymore room!" Tess shouted at him. Again, Jade nearly laughed because of Tess.

"Back on track people!" Mr Johnson shouted at them. "You guys better get going if you want to make it there by 5 o'clock today." He added. Conan looked up at the clock to see it read 2:15.

"Sir, how long is the trip?" Conan asked.

"Almost 4 hours." Mr. Johnson answered him. "Jake, I need you to bring your gun this time around."

"Chief, you know I don't think to use that thing." Jake explained to him. Ai crossed her arms as she turned to look at him.

"Suck it up. You're an adult, stop acting like a baby." Ai said to him. Jake glared at her.

"Ai has a point Jake. I'm only 16 and I use a gun." Tess said to him. Jake pouted.

"Sir, I don't mind using a gun if Jake doesn't want to." Jade said. Everyone looked at her. Jade seemed to be like one of those people who hated guns and used their fists to solve things. So this came to be a complete shocker to them all.

"Alright Jade. Jake give her your gun and bullets." Mr Johnson said. Jake nodded his head. He unclipped the holster that held his gun and handed it to Jade, including the bullets.

"Look at that. A man who doesn't like to use a gun but he carries one with him." Ai pointed out. Jake felt like hitting her but she was just a kid and he could get in trouble for hitting her.

"Thank you Jake." Jade said clipping the holster around her waist.

"Alright guys. Let's go if we want to get there at 5 o'clock." Tess said as she opened the door for everyone. She was the last one to exit. Mr Johnson leaned back in his chair.

"I wonder if I made a mistake about putting Tess on this assignment." he said to himself. "No. She'll make sure he survives. After all, she is the best on my team."

Jake took his car and followed Tess to her house since his house was on the way to Upstate New York anyway. Tess, Jade, Conan, and Ai packed there things. Tess told her mother she might not be back in a while and she freaked out. She told Tess over and over again to wear a bulletproof vest. Tess kept on saying "I know mom." As she left the house. They all quickly loaded there things since it was now pouring out. They all jumped into the car and left with Jake behind them.

After they stopped at Jake's house they all got onto the highway heading towards Upstate New York. Jade and Ai fell asleep on the way there leaving Tess and Conan awake for the rest of the ride. They didn't say anything to each other since it was just them and there really wasn't anything to talk about. Conan was still stuck in between his emotions for either Rachel or Tess. And Tess was still slightly depressed from his silence to her answer last night. So that stopped them from talking.

Before they left the station, Tess has asked for a new cell phone to talk with her since she couldn't find hers. But they also gave Conan, Ai, and Jade one so they all could keep in contact with one another in case they get split up some how. Tess's new cell phone started to ring. She answered it.

"Hello? What Jake? Yes I'm going the right way. Man. You ask a lot of questions, no. NO! Goodbye!" Tess hung up the phone placing it back next to her.

"What did he want?" Conan asked breaking the silence between them.

"Nothing. Just Jake being Jake." Tess answered. "Do you want to listen to some music?"

"Sure." Conan answered. Tess turned on the radio to 107.9 Kiss 108. her favorite station. The song that was playing was Linkin Park "Numb." She turned it down so that it wouldn't wake up either Ai or Jade. Again Tess and Conan fell silent. The only thing that kept the place slightly loud was the radio.

After 3 hours they all finally arrived at Maxwell's house. It wasn't a house. More like a mansion! Tess and Conan woke up Jade and Ai as they parked in the back. On the back porch with an umbrella was a man. He was slightly tall and a nice built. He had brown eyes and soft brown hair. He was dressed in just normal jeans and a t-shirt. Jake, Tess, Conan, Ai, and Jade grabbed their things and ran up the porch. The man smiled.

"You must be the team that Mr Johnson sent me." He said.

"Yes and you must be Maxwell Jones the third." Jake said.

"I am. Please, come on in and have a bite to eat. I'm sure that long drive here wore you guys out." Maxwell led them into the mansion. "You can put your bags on the floor by the backdoor. Someone will come by and pick them up."

"Alright." They said placing their bags onto the floor. They followed Maxwell into the living room. There they sat down onto the couches. Conan, Ai, and Jade sat onto the couch. Tess leaned up against it with her head turned to see Maxwell and Jake stood next to her.

"So, may I have your names?" he asked as he gave each one of them a cup of water.

"My name is Conan."

"I'm Haibara, but please, call me Ai."

"Jade's my name!"

"Tess."

"And I'm Jake."

Maxwell nodded his head looking at the team. He begun to doubt them because they looked so young. He didn't understand Conan and Ai being there since they were really young. Maybe 8 or 9 even younger they looked. Tess was another one. She looked only in her early teens. Jake, he looked like in his 20's and maybe 19. Jade also looked young. She looked about the same age as Tess.

"What are you're ages?" Maxwell had to ask. Tess turned herself around handing her cup to Jade who placed it onto the coffee table in front of her.

"Just because we look young doesn't mean we're not good at what we do." Tess told him. Maxwell nodded his head.

"Excuse my rudeness." Maxwell said. "But I would feel much more comfortable if I knew your ages." He added. Tess said.

"I'm 16." Tess said as she crossed her arms. "And I have a habit of pulling the trigger on my gun too many times."

"I'm 22. And my habit is" Jake said when Tess cut him off.

"Nitpicking." Tess cut in. Jake glared at her.

"I'm 9 and I'm really good at solving murders." Conan said.

"I'm also 9 and I'm a chemist." Ai said to him.

"I'm 17 and I'm pretty much good at almost everything." Jade said. Maxwell nodded his head. He was right. They were young. He didn't know if he could trust them or not and their abilities. Maxwell stood up smiling.

"Alright. Now let me take you to your rooms." Maxwell said. They followed Maxwell up the stairs. He opened the door to the first bedroom which had only two beds. "I'm sorry girls. But two of you will have to share a bed." He said to them. Tess shrugged her shoulders.

"That doesn't bother me." Tess said.

"Same here." Jade stated. The girls walked into their room to see their bags and clothes were already laid out in the drawers. Tess blinked a few times as she stared at the drawers.

"They work quick." Tess said.

"Hey Tess." Tess turned to look at Jade who was standing by the sliding glass door that led out to a balcony. "I thought you said he was a common man." She said. Tess nodded her head.

"I thought so too."

"Well he's no common man." Ai said as she sat down onto one of the beds. She looked around to see a closet and two doors. She walked over opening on to show a bathroom big enough to fit a family of 5 in. She didn't know where the other door went to. She went to open it when the door handle was already moving. Jade and Tess quickly looked over and watched ass ht door opened to reveal Jake and Conan.

"Hey look at that! Our rooms out connected." Jake said with a smile. Tess rolled her eyes.

"Ai, if you want you can kick him." Tess said as she closed the drawers.

"No, he's not worth it." Ai said walking over to a bed and sitting down.

"You're right." Tess stated as she looked back smiling at her. Ai gave her a slight smile only big enough that she could see. Tess turned back around leaning up against the dresser.

"So, what do we do from here?" Jake asked. Tess crossed her arms as she shook her head.

"Come on Jake, you've done enough of these. You should know." Tess answered him. Jake looked at her and looked away.

"There's no need for me to be here." Ai said, "all I am is a chemist." Tess walked toward her as she sat down next to her.

"Yeah we need ya Ai."

"How so?" Ai asked.

"Well, I can't come up with a reason right now but I'll figure one out." Tess answered. Jade clapped her hands together and smiled.

"I'm hungry! Let's go downstairs and eat!" Jade shouted. They all nodded their heads.

"Yeah!" they all shouted. They headed for the door. Conan was the last one out looking back at Ai who still sat on the bed.

"Coming Ai?" he asked. Ai looked up shaking his head.

"I'll be down there in a minute." Ai said. Conan shrugged his shoulders as he shut the door behind him. Ai looked at the glass doors. She stood up opening it looking out. All she could see were woods. Nothing but trees, trees, and more trees. Sure there were a few birds here and there but mostly trees. Ai sighed. She wondered if Keina knew she was here. If Keina knew she was here helping out Tess and the others she was dead. Ai sighed again. She turned around and walked into the room shutting the glass doors behind her heading out of the room down stairs.


	6. Threatened Attack

**Disclaimer: **Still own nothing but our OC's

**Chapter 6: Threatening Attack**

After they had all eaten they went into the livingroom. Tess, Jake and Conan sat on one couch while Ai and Jade sat on another, watching Mr. Jones intently, he seemed worried.

"What're you so worried about? You've got us here to protect you." Jade spoke up, he stopped pacing and looked at them.

"You're right I suppose...but I just recieved a letter from the murderer." He held it up, Tess' eyes widened and she snatched it from him and read it over.

_You're as good as dead Maxwell Jones, not even your little detective friends can save you now. Enjoy the few hours you have left in this world._

She finished reading it over outloud and looked up at him.

"This is a threat Mr. Jones, why didn't you tell us sooner?" She growled.

"I am aware that it's a threat, I just got it!" He snapped. Conan took the letter from Tess and did a look over of it.

"There's no return address, meaning it was dropped of by the killer personally." He deduced, still looking over the letter.

"So that means this dude knows we're here to protect Mr. Jones then." Jade pointed out, the others nodded, save the small chemist.

It was now Tess' turn to pace the room, trying to figure out how they were going to protect Mr. Jones from the assailent.

"Do you actually think this guy's gonna go through with it and try something?" Conan asked.

"Yeah, either he's really stupid to come knowing we're here, or really clever." Was Tess' reply.

Jade leaned back against the couch, her skin paler than it usually was. She put the back of her hand to her forehead and groaned.

"What's the matter Jade?" Ai looked over at her.

"I'm not feeling very well..." Jade's answer was barely above a whisper.

"Go lay down for a while." Ai crossed her arms and leaned back.

"You guys don't mind do you?"

"Not at all, if you're sick then rest is the best medicine."

And so Jade went back to the shared room to lat down for a while.

"You've got your gun just incase he does show up, right?" Jake looked up at Tess, who nodded, lifting up her shirt partly to expose her gun in it's holster on her side.

"Well, Mr. Jones, go about your normal routine and if anything out of the ordinary happens or this so called assassin actually does show up then we'll be ready." Jake assured him, though they would tell Mr. Jones was still very wary. And who wouldn't be if their life was threatened to be taken from them? But the politician trusted them, mostly, and went into the other room to make sure everything was clean.

"What're we going to do if the k---" Conan was cut off by the power going out.

"Ok, this can't be merely coincidental, I think our guy is here." Tess went for her gun when they heard a yell from the other room.

"Quickly!" Ai called out to them as they all ran towards the scream. The room wasn't very dark so they could easily manuever through it and towards the man they were supposed to be protecting.

"What happened! Are you alright!" When they reached him he was holding his arm in pain, crimson liquid clearly seeping through his shirt. But he wasn't looking at them...he was staring towards the other direction.

"Huh? What're you looking at?" Conan turned his head questioningly in the direction, as did the others.

There stood a girl clad in all black with her long black trenchcoat fall to her knees. Her raven hair reaching just barely above her shoulders, and her emerald eyes partly hidden by rectangular glasses. Ai's eyes widened ever so slightly at the girl before them.

"Who're you!" Tess yelled out, gun in hand and pointing it towards the girl.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you _detective._" The girl's voice was icily taunting.

"Well you're not me." Tess retorted,"And you never answered my question, who the hell are you!"

"My name isn't going to help you figure out anything, but if you really want to know it, it's Keina. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to finish my assignment." Keina pulled out a silver gun from her pocket and pointed it directly at her victem, Mr. Jones, head. Ai immediately knew that she had to save this guy, so she jumped infront of him directly in the line of fire if the trigger was pulled. Keina's eyes widened and she growled.

"Move it Miyano." Ai flinched at her last name, but didn't budge an inch. Keina lowered her gun ever slightly, she couldn't shoot knowing that it would hit Ai, even if she was helping Tess and her group now. Tess saw this as her opportune moment, a loud cracking sound was heard, Keina let out a silent gasp, staring at Tess in shock. She hadn't expected that, slowly she looked down at her leg, blood was slowly darkening her black pants and creating a small pool around her feet. Everything was silent now and all eyes were on Keina, she knew that she had to get out of there and fast. So she took the only course of action that first popped into her head, and that was to escape by jumping out the window.

Tess and Conan both ran to the window, trying to spot Keina, but she was gone. They both sighed, atleast they knew her name now, though that didn't help much. Conan turned and glanced at Ai who had her arms crossed and was now leaning up against the wall.

"I'm going to bed." Was all she said before turning on her heel and walking down the hallway to the girl's room.

_How'd Keina know Ai's real last name? Haibara's hiding something from us, and I aim to find out what that something is._ Conan thought defiantly, watching his shrunken comrade disappear down the hall.

In the morning Jade was the last one to wake, standing with slight difficulty and making her way out into the livingroom where everyone else was. Conan noticed that she was limping and looked like she was trying to hide the fact that her leg was hurting her. Another thing was that she was wearing a long sleeved shirt, she always did for that matter, but it was almost 90 degrees outside, way too hot to be wearing something like that.

"What's wrong?" Conan finally asked, hiding his suspicion.

"Hn? Oh, I tripped and fell out of bed this morning." She answered him with a sheepish smile.

"You must have really bad luck." He mused.

"Yeah, I always have, it's attracted to me I guess." She laughed.

"That must suck."

"Yeah it does, what happened after I went to bed last night?" She plopped herself on the couch.

"The guy that sent that letter to Mr. Jones showed up, except he wasn't a guy at all like we had thought, she was a girl and her name was Keina. She tried to kill him and then Haibara blocked him from her attack and Keina seemed like she didn't want to hurt Ai, so Tess shot her and then she jumped through the window and completely disappeared." He watched her expression, to see what it would be.

"And I missed the whole thing? Aww, I really do have cruddy luck!" She pouted, leaning back against the back of the couch.

He nodded,"Hey, why do you always wear long-sleeved shirts?"

"I dunno, why? Is it bothering you?" She sideways glanced at him, watching him shrug his shoulders.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" Tess smiled, coming down the stairs.

"Where were you?" Conan cocked a brow at her.

"I was upstairs talking to Mr. Jones, he's a complete mess."

"We'll i'd be too if I was almost killed." Jade piped up.

"You're right, hey, how're you feeling?" Tess stood there in the doorway, leaning up against the frame.

"Huh? Oh, i'm feeling better, thanks for asking." Jade smiled.

"Hey Haibara?" Conan glanced towards her.

"What?" She growled.

"How'd you know that she wouldn't shoot you?" He wasn't phased at all by her snappish reply.

"I didn't." Though she knew well of the reason why Keina wouldn't have shot her, but this time, she wasn't going to let them win. She wouldn't let herself be called a murderer anymore, she was going to be the good guy this time and she was going to help defeat the organization, even at the risk of her own life.


	7. Murder Within the Group

**_Disclaimer: _Again, and must we say it over and over again? We don't own Detective Conan/ Case Closed. Only Tess and Jade.**

_**Chapter 7: Murder Within the Group**_

Tess sat in front of a computer. It was the early morning and barely no one was up. Not even the servants. But Tess wanted to know who this Keina person was and what she was doing, so what did she do? She went to hack the Japanese Government files.

When Tess was finally in the Japanese Government files, it was well over 11 o'clock and everyone was now up, except for Jake. He always slept this late; he never liked to get up early.

Tess continued to work. She had gotten use to the 'click' sound of the mouse. She didn't mind it all actually considering she's always sitting on a computer at her house. She continued to work, searching through the files of murderers, robbers, and conmen and woman in the files. Tess stared at the screen so long to the point where sometimes she went crossed eyed and she had to look away.

"Tess?" came a voice. She turned to see Conan, Ai, and Jade there. "What are you doing?" asked Jade. Tess turned back around.

"Searching." Tess answered as she placed her chin into her hand.

"Searching for what?" Ai asked.

"Keina." Tess answered. Conan walked forward as he now stood at her right side.

"Did you find anything on her yet?" Conan asked. Tess shook her head as she glanced at him.

"No, nothing yet. Just simple robbers and murderers so far." Tess answered. Ai then walked over standing at her left side.

"How did you get these files may I ask?" Ai asked.

"I hacked into the Japanese Computer Mainframe." Tess answered. Jade limped her way over standing behind Tess.

"You can do that?" Jade asked. Tess nodded her head.

"Yeah, you'll be amazed at what I can do." Tess said to Jade as she looked back and smiled. Jade smiled back and Tess went back to work.

"How long have you been doing this?" Conan asked as he also started to go cross eyed.

"Um... oh I don't know. Maybe in the early morning I say around 4 AM." Tess answered as she entered a different file.

"What? Are you serious?" Conan asked.

"I'm dead serious. You guys go on downstairs and I'll meet you down there for breakfast, once I found out who this Keina girl is." Tess said as she then started to type. The three left and went downstairs.

As they sat there at the table Jade was almost finished with her book. Ai was also reading and Conan, he was eating.

"How's your knee?" Conan asked as he looked up at Jade. Jade smiled as she looked at him.

"Alright thanks for asking Conan." Jade answered.

"What happened?" Ai asked as she looked up from her book. Jade looked at her.

"I whacked my knee the other morning." Jade answered. Ai nodded her head, turning back to her book. Jake had then entered the kitchen all dressed and ready for what ever was going to happen.

"Finally, the dead man wakes." Ai said from reading her book. Jake looked at her as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"I would watch what you say Ai." He said to her taking a sip.

"Or what?" Ai asked. Jake was about to answer but Tess came running into the room.

"I found her!" Tess shouted. Everyone looked at Tess weirdly and by this time Maxwell had entered the room.

"Found who?" he asked. Tess turned to him as he took his seat next to Jade.

"I found out who this Keina girl is." Tess answered as she took a piece of paper out of her pocket. "I printed out a file on her." she added. She handed the printed out piece of paper to her partner who quickly read through it.

"Keina, age 17." Jake read. "That's all they have on her?" he asked. Tess shook her head.

"No there's more information at the bottom." Tess said. Jade snatched the paper out of his hands as he continued to read it.

"Convicted of many crimes." Jade read. Ai then took it.

"But was not found guilty." Ai read.

"Until now. That paper also says she's an extreme gunwoman. We'll have to place extra protection on you Mr. Jones." Tess said. Maxwell nodded his head as he stood up.

"Alright." He said. Tess turned towards her team as Maxwell left the room.

"Some of us will have to pull an all nighter." Tess said to her team.

"Alright, but who will be going first?" Jade asked. Tess started to think for a minute.

"I don't know. Do we have any volunteers?" she asked. No one said anything. "Alright then, Jake."

"What?" he asked.

"Me and you will stay up for this week." Tess said. Jake blinked a few times.

"Why me?" Jake asked. Tess sighed as she smacked him on his forehead.

"Stop complaining okay? Me and you are going to stay up this week." She said as she exited the room. Jake followed behind her trying to talk his way out of it but Tess's answer was clear.

"Why does he even try?" Conan asked as he shook his head.

"He's a man." Ai answered, "men are always like that. They want something done their way or the highway." She said as she stood up and walked out into another room. Jade followed her with a limp. Conan watched. He wondered about Jade. He didn't know what to think about her. She was just...odd. There was nothing else to it besides she was odd. A little too odd. He got up and walked into another room where he found Jade sitting on the couch reading yet another book. He watched her as she looked back at him and smiled. He smiled back and headed up stairs.

Soon night came. Tess and Jake sat in the living room of the mansion. Tess refilled her gun as she twirled it around her finger. Jake sat across from her on the other couch.

"Must you twirl that thing?" Jake asked. Tess looked at her and smiled.

"Why? Are you scared?" she asked as she pointed the gun at him. Jake looked at the gun as he looked at Tess.

"Come on, that's not funny." Jake said. Suddenly there was a sudden scream. Tess quickly. She jumped over the couch and headed up stairs to Maxwell's room. She kicked down the door and looked at him. He had fallen out of his bed and lying on the floor staring at his window.

"What happened?" tess asked. Maxwell pointed at the window. Tess looked to see someone looking through the window. Jake appeared behind her.

"Who is that?" Jake quickly asked. Suddenly gun shots were fired. Tess ran forward and jumped onto Maxwell covering his head. Jake tried to find cover but that didn't happen. Jake was shot about 5 times. Tess lifted up her head and turned to look at him. He stumbled backward and fell to the ground rolling down the stair case.

"JAKE!" Tess shouted. Suddenly Ai and Conan appeared at the door way and who ever was at the window started to shoot again. Tess turned to them. "TAKE COVER!" she shouted. Ai and Conan pressed their bodies against the wall as Tess lifted up her head. She pointed her gun up at the window and started to fire. Suddenly who ever was at the window ducked and jumped down. Tess ran to the window and shot whatever was left of it blowing it away. Tess started to shoot at the running figure. Once the figure was out of sight Tess turned and looked at the doorway. She looked at Maxwell as he sat up. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah I'm fine." He answered. Tess nodded her head as she an out of the room and looked over the railing to see Jake lying on the ground in his own pool of blood. "Jake!" she shouted again as she turned and started to run down the stairs. She tripped a few times but kept her balance. She got to the bottom of the stair case and fell. Ai and Conan followed close behind her. They watched as Tess rolled Jake onto his back. "Jake?" she called to him as she leaned forward a little to check his breathing. He was breathing but slightly. Jake's eyes opened.

"Tess?" he called back to her. Tess smiled.

"Good, you're alive. I'm going to call for an ambulance, alright? Just hang on." Tess said to him. Jake suddenly started to cough up blood. Tess lifted up his shirt to see five bullet wounds in his upper and lower chest. Tess looked at him as she turned to look at Ai and Conan. "One of you please, call an ambulance." She begged. Ai and Conan ran around the two as they rushed to the kitchen phone.

"What happened?" Jade asked as she was now standing at the top of the stairs. Tess turned and looked at her.

"I think it was Keina. I'm not sure though. She shot Jake about five times." Tess answered. Jake's coughing started up again and Tess turned her direction to him. Tess held his head up to easy the coughing but it only got worse. Tess ripped the bottom of her shirt and wiped his mouth. "Please, stay with me Jake." Ai and Conan came back into the room.

"They said they will be here soon." Conan said as he got down onto his knees next to Jake. Tess nodded her head. She then placed Jake onto the ground as she slipped off her shirt. Conan looked away but then he noticed she had her bikini top on. He watched as Tess placed her shirt onto Jake's chest and started to press down.

"Ah." he said weakly in pain.

"I'm sorry Jake. But we have to apply pressure." Tess said as she pressed onto his chest. Conan looked around and then raced up the stairs.

"I'm going to get towels!" he shouted. Jade watched from the top of the stairs as Conan pushed past her. Maxwell walked out of his room and walked forward. He looked over the catwalk to see Tess kneeling next to Jake trying to stop his bleeding. He watched this young girl try to save someone. And from this point on he knew he could trust her.

Conan came back running past Jade again and down the stairs. He fell onto his knees next to Tess, placing the towels onto the ground and handing one to Tess. She took it and placed it onto Jake's chest removing her blood filled shirt. She pressed down hard as Jake groaned again.

"Ai, I need you to press down on this real quick." Tess said as she looked up at her. Ai nodded her head as she got up onto her knees and walked over. She placed her hands onto Tess's as she slipped them out. Tess stood up and ran up stairs and entered her room. "Where is it, where is it!" Tess asked herself as she searched through her drawers. Then she found it. Her cell phone. She went to dial a number when Conan's voice was heard.

"TESS!" he screamed. Tess looked over as she swung her door open and stood next to Jade. Conan looked up at her with blood covering his hands and Ai's as they continued to press down onto his chest. "We can't stop the bleeding!" he shouted. Then Ai looked.

"And we're loosing him!" she shouted. Tess ran down the stairs as Jade and Maxwell followed. Tess got down next to Jake.

"Come on Jake you can't give in now." Tess said. "Remember when I first became your partner? And I had such a difficult time trying to trust you?"

"Till I saved your life" came his weak voice. Tess looked at him. She could see how pale he was getting. She knew it was no use. As hard as they tried, they were going to lose Jake and there was nothing they could have done about it.

Soon an hour past and Jake was slipping away. Tess held onto his hand as she used her other one to press onto his chest wounds as Conan and Ai raced to get more towels. Maxwell was on the other side of Jake also pressing his hands on Jake's wounds and Jade was fetching some water. Tess felt a slight tug on her hand. She looked down at him to see he was smiling.

"What are you smiling about?" Tess asked.

"Your..your effort... to...to save me." he said weakly. Tess shook her head.

"There's nothing funny about it Jake!" Tess shouted.

"We both know th-that I won--won't make it." Jake said as his eyes opened slightly yo look at her. "I'm bleeding to death and there's nothing that can stop it." Jake's head rolled to the left and his eyes shut. His body limped on the ground. The grip on Tess's hand became loose and his hand slipped out of her grasp. Tess pulled herself back onto her feet. She slipped them out as she tucked them to her chest. Tears appeared in her eyes as she covered her face in her knees. Maxwell also pulled himself back as he looked down. When Jade came back with the water it was to late. She dropped the water onto the floor slipping everywhere when she saw how Jake was now lying on the floor. Ai and Conan stood at the top of the stairs holding towels in their hands.

"See ya, Jake" Tess's voice came softly. Then there was red blinking lights outside and heard sirens. They looked out to see paramedics coming out of the ambulance with a stretcher. They came into the house and saw the blood on everyone's hands. Tess stood up as she pulled her badge out of her pocket. She showed it to them and they nodded their heads.

"Load his body into a body bag." Tess said as she looked down. "He's gone." She added. The paramedics nodded their heads as one went back to get a body bag. The other moved the stretcher toward Jake's body as he got down.

"Looks like--"

"Five bullet wounds to the upper and lower chest." Tess finished. She walked outside as the other paramedic brushed by her with a body bag. Tess seated herself outside on the stone wall along the house. Soon the paramedics came out with the body bag on the stretcher. Tess looked up and watched as they loaded Jake's body into the ambulance. Soon cops had arrived and among them was Mr Johnson. He walked towards Tess, standing in front of her. He looked at her blood hands. "It's not my blood." She said.

"Is it Mr Jones's blood?" Mr Johnson asked. Tess shook her head.

"No. Not his either." She said.

"Then whose?"he asked her. Jade, Ai, Conan, and Maxwell were standing outside. He looked over at them. He looked at them all and then his eyes widened as he looked back at Tess.

"Yeah, it was Jake, he's gone now Chief."


	8. Rising Suspicions

**Jade**: A big Thanks to my bestest friend Sumi-kun (KasumiKyofu on for helping me write this in my time of writers block. glomps Sumi And now over to the lovely Disclaimer! Buahahaha!

**Disclaimer**: groggily Bleh. Leave me alone! turns over and goes back to sleep

**Kasumi**: It's me Kasumi, I love to make Disclaimers. fun and joyful! -just read my stories, there's a joke in every disclaimer- ...-thinks- Ok, Jade and I think that Conan and Ai should be together... so, if we owned Detective Conan, you would see them together instead of Ran -Rachel-. Proof enough?

**Jade**: Oh...and Kasumi makes MAJOR spelling mistakes in EVERYTHING she writes so if I miss anything in her part (which is like the ending) i'm really really sorry! XDD!

**Chapter 8: Rising Suspicions**

The few days after Jake's death had been quite uneventful, with the exception of his funeral, which they all of course attended. Emotions were still stirred up from the event but none more ever than Tess'. She kept feeling as if it was her fault he was dead, that somehow she could've saved him if she had given more effort in the act.

It was now Tuesday, four days after the whole incident, Maxwell was placed in the care of another FBI agent in order to give Tess and the others some time away from their work, mainly to get over their loss. The loss of a close friend.

Tess was still asleep, having been up all night trying to find as much as she could about Keina by hacking into every police database that she could think of. But of course it was all in vein, they had nothing, nothing that she hadn't already gotten (which wasn't much at all.)

Conan and Ai were on the couch reading; Conan was reading his favorite Sherlock Holmes novel...again, while Ai was reading a science fiction book.

"How many times have you read that one?" Haibara glanced over at the pint-sized detective, who merely grinned back at her.

"This is the twelth time." At that the biochemist scowled with disdain.

"How can you stand to read that detective crap over and over again? Doesn't it get old after a while, knowing the technique in the end that the murderer used everytime?"

"Nope, not at all." Conan replied, satisfied with his answer at seeing how it irritated her. Ai just gave up on the subject and continued reading her book, which she was nearly finished with.

"Morning guys, what's up?" Jade bounded cheerily into the room, brightening the lingering dismal mood fairly.

"Good morning Kasahari." Ai muttered dully, Conan rolled his eyes and replied to Jade with a big grin.

"Morning! What're you all happy about?" He asked.

"Hmm? OH! I'm expecting a call from my boss back in Japan, supposedly he has some leads on this mysterious group we're after."

Conan nodded in understanding, watching her pull out a chair at the kitchen table and sticking a piece of toast in the toaster.

_How can she be so excessively happy? Especially when someone she knew recently passed away?_ Conan thought, _well, I guess the information her Chief is supposed to be giving her could be the reason. She could be excited about moving one step further to catching Keina and that crime organization..._

Conan was brought back to reality with the phone ringing and Jade rushing to answer it, seeing as Tess was still asleep.

"Hello? Oh hey Chief Johnson! Huh? Oh yeah sure, wake her up? Er...alright I'll tell her. Ok, bye." And with that Jade hung up and started for Tess' room. A few moments later Jade came out and went to finish her toast. Almost ten minutes later Tess came out, fully dressed, though still groggy from the abrupt awakening that she had recieved from Jade.

"What's going on?" Asked Conan as Tess grabbed her jacket from the coat rack and was heading towards the door. The jet-black haired teen turned her head to him and smiled weakly.

"Chief called for me and wants me to come down to the precinct and do some file work on what happened. I should be there a while, I'll see you guys later." Tess then proceeded through the door and out to the street to her car and drove off.

"Guess it's just us for the day huh?" Jade rinsed off her crumby plate and stuck it in the dishwasher, recieving a nod from the two 'children'.

Then Jade's cell phone started ringing to which she immediately unhooked it from her belt and answered. She talked silently on it for a few minutes before heading towards the coat rack, grabbing her jacket, and exiting the building. Her actions baffled to two to some extent, but shrugged it off figuring the information her boss was telling her must've been classified or something.

"Since Tess is gone for most of the day, and we don't even know when Jade's going to be back, i'm going to start on the laundry so Tess doesn't have to do it when she gets back." Conan called over his shoulder to Ai who quirked a brow at him and smirked.

"How thoughtful of you, Kudo-kun, I can see you have a thing for this girl." She taunted. Conan chose to ignore her comment, feeling his cheeks rise in temperature and was glad his back was to her otherwise he would've been embarassed for her to see him blushing the way he was.

He went into everyone's room to get their basket full of dirty clothing and brought it back to his spot infront of the washing machine. Conan then set to work, tossing all the clothes in the machine that was filling with water. He stopped, hearing something drop to the floor, making a light clattering noise as it hit the tile. Glancing down he noticed a contact container.

"Weird, nobody here wears contacts..." He mused to himself, picking up the container and opening it. It was empty, but on the container it said that it was for blue colored contacts. He tilted his head slightly and started searching through the pile of clothes to find out which one it had fallen from. He did find the article of clothing that it came from, it was a pair of blue pants, but what shocked him the most were the dried bloodstains on the pant leg of it. He narrowed his eyes at it and tossed it in the contraption designed for cleaning clothes.

He hadn't even noticed that he had nodded off to sleep until the beeping on the washing machine woke him up. Dazedly he glanced around the room, trying to get his bearings straight, then he remembered the laundry.

He looked in his hand and saw the contacts container still in his grasp.

He re-read the label to make sure it was blue contacts. He must've read it five times. All the same. Blue. He pondered and stared at the tiny label across the back. Over and over in his head the same question flashed, _Who is wearing contacts? _As far as he knew, no one wore them.

-else where-

It was bright sunny day, and happy childern ran joyfully around a playground. But in an un-wanted dark alley, a black haired woman glared. She hated happy kids. She much preferred to see them miserable in their own tears. As it was, she had no time to think of ways to make them miserable. She had to listen to her boss who was very pleased with her work. And now, inspite of her work, she had to go and do more.

"Right now? Yes I understand, I'll go now and take care of them. Yes sir, no trace of the killings. Trust me, it will be done." Her eyes narrowed, as she hung up her flip phone, and walked out of the alley. As she passed the children, she thought _Your gonna get yours, you just wait._

-back at the house-

Conan had skipped lunch, he was in his room still trying to figure out a reasonable answer to his dilema. _Damn it, if only we all didn't have blue eyes! Maybe I could ex- clude some people! I know Tess wouldn't kill her own partner. _But before he could think any more along the lines, he could hear Ai scream "Kudo-kun!"

Conan raced out of his room, and down the stairs to see Ai standing in front of a broken window. There was no sign of the person who did it, nor any sign of an object that could of caused it to break.

"What happened!" Conan shouted at Ai.

"I don't know! I was getting a drink and I saw this!" The strawberry blonde haired girl explained quickly.

"Ok, let's not panic. We can fix this! Just get some duct type and Tess will never notice!" The pint-sized detective said. It would seem that his mind was slightly out of it with thinking at the moment.

"Conan, there's someone in here! We're being broken into! I think we should worry about more important things besides Tess killing us!" She paused. "Get the duct type."

Conan had wanted to laugh, but he heard a creak in the kitchen. He held out his hand to Ai, and got up against the wall. Trying to peak over the corner, his foot slipped on the hard wooden floor, and he fell to his face. He looked into the kitchen and saw a shadow run through an open door that lead to the hallway.

"Crap!" Conan thought out loud as he ran to Ai. "Listen," he spoke in whisper. "Keep on your gaurd." He spoke fast, and for good reason. Keina was back and this time, she was going to kill them if her life depended on it. He signaled Ai to follow him into the kitchen. She did, staying close to him.

They walked unusually softer than normal, and still it sounded like it wasn't enough. Keina knew where they were. If she let them out of her sight, she would lose them, and possibly more.

Conan walked up the stairs, as slowly as he could, but the slower you go, the louder it gets. The wooden creaks echoed throughout the halls. Ai grabbed onto his shirt to keep up with him. -for she was more cautious than he was- They were upstairs, and were pretty sure that Keina wasn't. Conan walked into his room with Ai and closed the door, securing it tightly.

"We have to call Tess, Jade, someone!" Ai whispered to Conan who was looking outside.

There was a loud bang and the door was thrown opened. Conan and Ai could see Keina's pure black hair and her emerald green eyes facing towards them. Her gun was held up taking her aim as she glared darkly at them. Without saying anything, she pulled the trigger towards Conan. Ai pushed him out of the way. Conan looked back to see Ai's face as she was shot. Her body fell to the ground and blood leaked from her shoulder. She bit her bottom lip in pain, willing herself not to cry out and give Keina the satisfaction.

"Ai! Are you alright?" Conan asked in great concern as he bent down to asess the damage done to her.

She gave a weak smile, still holding her arm tightly, and answered, "Of course...I've been shot numerous of times before and i'm still here. Besides, do you even think i'd die before avenging Akemi's death?"

"We'll get you to..."

_BANG_!

Keina wasn't going to let them have a conversation. She was actually disappointed that she had let them talk for that long. The shot was meant for Conan, though it missed him by three inches.

Conan smirked, "Gee Keina, your losing your touch. The Keina that I've been reading about never misses."

"Oh? I see you've been doing you're research, I was only trying to fake you out with that shot, Kudo." Her expression was so smug that it made Conan want to kick her with his turbo-powered sneakers. But at catching the last part of her statement his eyes widened considerably. How could she possibly know who he was? How'd she figure it out?

He glanced back at Ai, only to notice that she had disappeared, but he noticed a trail of blood leading over towards the bed. He followed the trail with his eyes, Ai was dialing a number on the phone, which he figured must've been someone to come aid them.

Keina aimed her gun again, this time she knew she couldn't possibly miss at this close of range. She cocked it back, put her finger to the trigger and...

_RIINNNGG RIINNNGGG!_

Keina abruptly looked down in surprise, her phone was ringing, but who would be calling her? Gin knew better than to call her while she was working. She spun around to see Ai grinning triumphantly over by the phone.

"Haibara! Who did you call!" Conan called out to her from across the room.

"Jade."

Conan nodded and gritted his teeth at the assassin before him,"Why do you have Jade's cell phone! What did you do to her!"

Keina let out a laugh, a cold bone-chilling laugh, and held up the phone, letting it drop to the floor where she brought her foot down on it hard. The dark navy blue cell broke into many piece under the impact of her boots.

"Wouldn't you like to know. Unfortunately, my time here is coming to and end and I must depart. Until next time, Kudo, Miyano." She let out another laugh and leapt through the window, vanishing into the shadows of night.


	9. Tess' Extreme Melt Down

**_Disclaimer: _Um...yeah**

_**Chapter 9: Tess's Extreme Melt Down**_

Tess sat at her desk staring at the paper work in front of her. She couldn't believe that her Chief, Mr Johnson, would make her do this work. She had just watched Jake, one of her closest friends die in front of her and he expects her to do this work? On top of that she was taken from her job and replaced by who she thought of was a rookie. She couldn't take it.

She finally decided to do something about it. She grabbed the papers off of her desk putting them in one huge pile. She tucked them up to her chest storming her way to Chief's office. People stepped out of her way seeing that she was angry. No one bothered her after what had happened to Jake. Jake was liked in the station, maybe a little cautious at times, but he did awesome work, but sadly, he never liked using a gun. When Tess came onto the force she didn't mind. In fact, it was Jake who got her the gun in the first place. After she had gotten it she was the best gunman on the force and Jake was proud to be her partner. And then, his life was ended by a bullet from Keina. Tess was going to get back at her.

Tess swung open Mr Johnson's office door. Surprisingly he wasn't on the phone. He looked up at Tess and saw her anger with one glance. Next thing he knew, Tess slammed the pile of papers onto his desk. From the force of the slam some paper slipped out and fell onto the floor around her.

"Why are you making me do this!" she shouted. Everyone outside the office listened considering the door was open.

"Tess, you need to do it. Who else will?" he then asked. Tess tried not to lose it.

"Have Mack do it!" she shouted.

"He's on vacation."

"Have someone do it other then me!" Tess shouted slamming her fist on the pile. Mr Johnson leaned back in his chair looking at the angered teen.

"You're the only one who is available." He said to her. Tess clenched her fist that rested on the pile of papers. Suddenly she swiped her arms through the air knocking the pile of paper everywhere onto the floor.

"I JUST LOST MY PARTNER CHIEF! MY HANDS WERE STAINED IN HIS BLOOD! I USED MY SHIRT TO STOP THE BLEEDING! I WATCHED HIS VERY LIFE SLIP AWAY IN FRONT OF ME! AND YOU EXPECT ME TO DO THIS WORK!" She slammed her hands onto the table. Mr Johnson pushed his chair back. With one angry sweep Tess knocked his lamp off of the desk and onto the floor. The lamp fell into pieces on the floor as she then knocked the phone off. "YOU CAN FORGET ABOUT ME DOING THIS WORK! FORGET IT! SCREW YOU AND EVERYONE IN THIS STATION!" She shouted storming out of his office. Mr Johnson pulled his chair forward and sighed as he rubbed his forehead. He leaned over his desk to see everything on the floor.

"Nance." He called.

"Yes sir?" in popped a woman's head. Mr Johnson stood up and begun to pick up the papers.

"Can you find me someone who can do this paper?" he asked. Nance nodded her head as she walked into the room and begun to help him pick up the paper work. Mr Johnson looked at her. "What are you doing?" he asked, "I told you to find me someone to do this paper work."

"I did. I'm available." She said to him picking up the papers. He nodded his head. Once the papers were picked up and the broke glass was in the trash and the phone was back on his desk; Nance headed for the door. She came to a halt and sighed. She turned her head to face Mr Johnson as he set himself into his chair. "Sir?"  
"What is it?" he asked. Nance turned her full body to face him.

"I've known Miss Moore ever since she got on the force, she's not as tough as everyone thinks she is. She does have limits, and I think she has reached them." Nance said to him. Mr Johnson looked at her. "Personally, from her view, I would do the same thing if I was forced to do the paper work of my partner who I watched die." She added leaving the room. Mr Johnson sighed.

He never thought of it the way Nance did. Tess was always the one to push everything to its limits including Jake as well. She's shown everyone that no matter what would happen she would be tough and never fall in defeat. But that night and what happened today showed Mr Johnson and the rest of the force that Tess did have limits and she had reached them.

Tess stormed right out of the station and to her car. She looked through her keys trying to find her car key. Her hands shook with anger and sadness. Finally, she slammed her hands onto the soft roof of the car and slammed her keys onto the pavement. She leaned up against it and she begun to sob uncontrollably. Tess slammed her fist onto the roof of the car about four or five times till she finally calmed down. She then wiped tear stains as she picked up her keys and got into the car. She started it up and drove off into the streets.

She came to a stop in a parking lot to a diner. The very diner where Jake brought Tess on her first day on the job. She stared at the very doors she always walked in with Jake, but today, she would walk in alone. She entered the diner and was greeted by the waitress she and Jake always got. She got a seat at the bar. She folded her arms on the table leaning her head on it. The bartender also knew Tess and Jake, and he knew them by name.

"What will it be Tess?" he asked. Tess looked up and rested her chin on her arm.

"A Pepsi." she answered with her voice trailing off. He nodded his head as he stood in front of Tess getting her drink.

"Where's Jake?" he asked setting Tess's Pepsi in front of her. Tess nearly winced at his name. She sniffed her congested nose and sat up taking a good long drink from her cup of soda.

"He's um...dead." Tess said twirling the straw in her cup.

" What?" he asked. Tess looked at him as she again folded her arms on the table.

"Did you go to the funeral?" Tess asked. The bartender shook his head.

"No, I was out of town, how did it happen?" he asked. Tess didn't want to recall what had happened that night and how Jake was shot by Keina. But this bartender was Jake's best friend, she had to tell him.

"Jake he um, was shot." She answered. "Well, we were being shot at and Jake didn't have time to take cover and he was shot in the upper and lower part of his chest and um..he fell down some stairs." Tess could feel the warmth of the tears coming into her eyes. "And he was bleeding really badly." Tess's eyes turned red as her voice was a little high pitched the usual now. "And next thing I knew I was telling him goodbye and...he was gone." She said recalling the look on Jake's face when he died. She pictured everything. She pictured his body going into a limp and Jade slipping the water everywhere. The bartender stood there as he watched tears slide down her cheeks. He reached out and touched her hand. Tess looked up to see his eyes full of tears but he didn't want to let them go.

"I know how you feel Tess." He said. tess pulled her hand away.

"No you don't, your hands weren't stained with his blood and neither was your shirt." She said. She then felt a sudden burst of anger. She slapped the cup onto the floor and walked out of the diner. The bartender looked at her and sighed.

"She's reached her limits." He said softly as a waitress came over sweeping up the broke glass. Tess got back into her car. She wished that everything would end. She wished that she would go home or hear her phone ring to hear Jake's voice on the other end telling her to get her butt to the office and finish the paperwork. But, she knew it wasn't going to happen. She knew it wasn't possible. Jake was gone. He was really gone. And there was no one else to turn to for help anymore. Jake was always that one she would go to for help and vise-versa with him, but no more will she get frantic phone calls from Jake nor will he show up at her house suddenly and drag her out, nor will she get Jake coming over early in the morning, forcing her out of bed and dragging her butt to work. No longer she would see him.

Tess's car drove down the street. There she saw an ambulance and a bunch of police squad cars. Tess pictured what had happened the night that Jake died. She slammed on her breaks and got out of her car. She rushed into her front yard to see Conan standing on the porch being questioned by an officer. Tess pulled her badge out of her pocket and ran forward.

"Excuse me! What's going on?" Tess asked. Before the officer could even get the chance to ask her who she was Tess showed him her badge.

"There was a shooting here. Some neighbors called 911 and--"

"I'll take everything over from here."

"Do you live here Miss..."

"Moore."

"Alright, do you live here Miss Moore?" he asked her. Tess nodded her head.

"Yes I live here..." she said trailing off. She was worried about Ai, Conan, and Jade. "Was anyone killed?"

The office shook his head, "no, no one was killed." He said. Tess nodded her head as he walked away. Tess looked at Conan.

"What happened?" She asked. Conan looked up at Tess.

"Keina showed up and she tried to kill me and Ai." Conan answered. Tess's eyes widened.

"Where was Jade?" Tess asked with slight anger.

"She left without a trace. And then Keina had Jade's cell phone and she wouldn't tell us what she did with her." Conan answered. Tess growled slightly. This gave her all the more reason to kill Keina. One for killing Jake and two for hurting Jade. She didn't even know if she was alive. Tess looked around and then faced Conan.

"Where's Ai?" she asked.

"Ai's going to the hospital." Conan answered.

Tess's eyes widened. "What!"

"She was the one shot." Conan added. Tess placed her hand onto her forehead and turned around rubbing it. She tried to keep calm. She was yelling at everyone today and she didn't want to yell at Conan. She turned back around and started yelling anyway.

"Why didn't you guys call me!" She asked shouting. Conan stepped back slightly.

"Well, Ai said we should call you or Jade and Ai was shot in the shoulder so she ended up calling Jade. And Tess, there's another thing."

"WHAT!"

Conan pulled out the contact box he had found out of his pocket and showed it to Tess, "do you know anyone who wears blue contacts?" Conan asked. Tess shook her head.

"No," Tess said softly entering the house. She then saw the window. "WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WINDOW!" she shouted in anger.

"That was the window Keina came in." Conan said. Tess clenched her fists as she whipped around.

"NEXT TIME SHE SHOWS UP AND I'M NOT AROUND! CALL ME ON MY CELL!" She shouted at him. Conan's eyes widened. What's wrong with Tess? She keeps on yelling at him and he didn't do anything.

"Tess what's---?"

"I've been having a bad day!" Tess shouted again. "have my mom drive you to the hospital to meet up with Ai, I'll meet you guys there." Tess said. She exited the house and slammed the doors shut. Conan turned and faced the door.

It must've happened at work. Yeah that's it. Someone must've gotten her angry or something. She did have to go to the station and do paper work on what had happened to Jake. Maybe that's what set her off. But would it set her off that easily? Tess is going through an extreme melt down, and Conan knew it now. Tess was trying to cope with the death of Jake. She's never really had anyone die that was close to her besides Jake, he was the first and hopefully the only one. Conan was going to leave her alone when she got to the hospital, if she went.

Tess drove down the street. She drove with her elbow resting on the door of the door still rubbing her forehead. She couldn't believe she went off on him like that. She didn't mean too. It just happened.

"I should go back and say sorry." She told herself. She took a back road all the way back to her house. She drove slowly considering it was a slightly busy street, busy with children that is. Tess drove till she came to a stop. There standing in front of her was someone dressed in black. She squinted and saw someone lifting up a gun. In her car's lights something shined as it lifted. Tess's eyes widened as she saw a gun. "Keina."

_**BAAAANG! **_


End file.
